As promised during their 50th anniversary tour of India in January, Messers John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan, V. Selvaganesh and Ganesh Rajagopalan are ready with their latest offering: This Moment, Shakti’s first new studio album in more than 45 years.
Released today (June 23) across multiple streaming platforms and traditional media (CD, vinyl) the album is “a labour of love”, says guitar legend McLaughlin, who joined hands with tabla maestro and composer Zakir Hussain to set up this unique band after an impromptu jam session at Ali Akbar Khan’s house in the US in the early ’70s. Now, over the years, Shakti has broken new ground in improvisation even while steadfastly swearing allegiance to a confluence of diverse musical traditions framed with love, respect and a furious, if fearless, sense of exploration.
“The music on this recording represents a quantum leap in the musical evolution of Shakti,” says McLaughlin. “It represents 50 years of working and playing together beginning in 1973. The numerous concerts we have played, the number of times we have been together working on our musical development, have brought us to the point where it has all been brought together here and now in the 21st Century. This album is a crystallization of five decades of love and dedication. Our musical evolution recorded here is really a revolution in the history of Shakti.”
Their ouvre, which has inspired generations of musicians, has been described as a fusion of various genres. Shakti, it may be safely concluded, is one of the earliest torch bearers of what we now know as World Music. Only that Shakti _ which has undergone several line-up changes _ espouses an organic intermingling of eastern and western musical influences, all the while serving as a crucible of North Indian and Carnatic musical traditions.
This Moment offers a set of eight new compositions and performances. These take turns to be plaintive and joyous, exuberant and restrained. The happiness the music exudes is more internal with one tune dedicated to the memory of the inimitable U ‘Mandolin’ Shrinivas, a former band member.
Mahadevan recalls how they really enjoyed the process of making the album, something that started during the lockdown with McLaughlin taking the lead. “So, from remote places all over the world, files were going back and forth. We had a common drop box where everybody listened and put their part, exchanged comments on a WhatsApp group… oh my god, how we executed this album,” he gushes.
Zakir likens the journey of This Moment to climbing Everest using different routes. “Having that kind of interaction, conversation between the group, the creative process is something that is Shakti and it is exclusive to Shakti,” he believes.
Souvik Datta, who helms Abstract Logix that is releasing the album, is excited. Naturally. Not only does he manage McLaughlin’s various projects, he is also the brains trust behind the forthcoming Shakti tour being undertaken in Europe and the USA to celebrate the launch of This Moment. “The European tour travels to six countries starting on June 27. This will be followed by their first US tour in 18 years touching 17 cities across the country,” he informs TTOnline, adding that the US shows would have supporting spots by either Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Bill Frisell or John Scofield.
Shakti@50: John McLaughlin flanked by V. Selvaganesh & Shankar Mahadevan (on his right) and Ganesh Rajagopalan & Zakir Hussain. Picture Abstract Logix
